By JACK WEATHERLY A third hotel will be built thanks significantly to the Mississippi Tourism Incentive program. The state law that created the program will provide up to 30 percent of the more than $23 million conversion of the 16-story 1929 art deco Threefoot Building in downtown Meridian. That would mean $6.9 million toward eligible costs, according to the certificate ...

Elite Physical Therapy is entrusting its new outpatient center here to the leadership of Daniel Donnelly, who has more than 21 years of experience as a trainer and physical therapist in the Meridian area. Donnelly is center manager for the clinic, which opened today at 4908 Great River Drive. Donnelly has a master’s degree in physical therapy from Emory University. ...

A city council in Mississippi has voted to enter an agreement to avoid litigation by updating its sewer system at a cost of more than $120 million over the next 20 years. News outlets report the Meridian City Council agreed to enter into a consent decree Tuesday with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice. The EPA found ...

Will history repeat itself in the Third Congressional District election this year? In 1964 a wealthy, agricultural businessman came out of nowhere to win what was then the Fourth Congressional District seat. Prentiss Walker, then 47, president of Walker Egg Farms and owner of Walker’s Supermarket in rural Mize, won as a conservative on the coattails of Barry Goldwater’s ...

Toys R Us, squeezed by Amazon.com and huge chains like Walmart, will close 180 stores, or about 20 percent of its U.S. locations, within months. Here’s a list of the Toys R Us locations closing, by state and territory. Asterisks indicate multiple locations are shutting within a town or city. Alabama: 2 Birmingham, Tuscaloosa Arkansas: 2 Fort Smith, Little Rock ...

By NASH NUNERY mbj@msbusiness.com After years of planning, and despite hardships incurred from the economic recession and Hurricane Katrina, construction on the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience in Meridian is progressing without a hitch. Better known as The MAX, the 58,000-square-foot evolutionary high-tech museum will expose visitors to Mississippi icons in literature, music, performing, design, and the visual and culinary ...

A Mississippi hospital system is cutting more than 100 employees, saying it needs to reduce costs because of lower reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers. Meridian-based Rush Health Systems has 2,800 employees across seven hospitals and multiple clinics. It announced the cuts Tuesday, saying it must “dramatically reduce” expenses. The private, nonprofit system tells local media that it’s trying ...

The U.S. Navy has announced a groundbreaking ceremony for a solar generation facility at a base in Mississippi. A Navy statement says the project on Naval Air Station Meridian will be commemorated Thursday afternoon. The Navy, Tennessee Valley Authority, East Mississippi Electric Power Association and Silicon Ranch Corporation have partnered to develop the facility that will generate up to six ...